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Too Much Preying

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Welcome to the Harvard Lunch Club Political Podcast – number 187!!! – for August 16, 2018 it’s the Too Much Preying edition of the show with your holier-than-thou hosts Todd Feinburg, radio guy, and Mike Stopa, AI bot. Welcome, welcome, welcome!

This week we are back into sex. We love to talk about sex. That’s pretty much all we can do concerning sex is talk about it so we might as well enjoy it.

Well a propos of this week’s title it seems that the Catholic Church has been caught with it’s robes down again – this time in the state of Pennsylvania by a Grand Jury of their peers (can men of the cloth actually have peers?). Most of the revelations (so to speak) are from priest-young supplicant consultations that took place fifteen or more years ago, but the graphic nature of the report and the alleged behavior (some stories involve, e.g., holy water) are not going to be good for the Vatican and that most perfect of churches nevertheless.

We discuss.

Then, in Vermont (where else?) the first Transsexual gubernatorial candidate in American history was nominated: Ms. Christine Hallquist. Turns out, aside from her utterly loony left wing opinions ($15 min. wg., Medicare for all, etc.) we like her….she is not trying to make a big deal about being trans and she wants to extend broadband to the whole state of VT. What’s not to like?

Our shower thoughts? I know you’ve been wondering…did they forget???

NO, Bozo! We did not.

Our hidden gem for the week? Our first rap song: The Black Eyed Peas sing “Where is the Love.” Mike dedicates it to a liberal of his acquaintance. Enjoy!

There are 13 comments.

So regarding the issue of celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church and the sexual misconduct (including rape) primarily by homosexual priests against boys.

I compare it to school shootings. Everytime there’s a school shooting there’s talk of gun control which both Stopa and Feinburg will defend against. The same thing with the RC priesthood’s pedophilia, pederasty and arguments against celibacy.

Like Stopa, I was raised a Catholic, but am no longer a part of the Church.

Since Feinburg wasn’t really interested in the celibacy aspect of this, I would suggest that the next time Stopa wants to talk about it, have a guest who is in favor of celibacy for the priesthood, and who can provide cogent arguments for it.

One other thing. To what degree are other denominations have a similar problem, only with heterosexual pastors or priests (married or unmarried) against girls?

They probably handle it better (the real scandal for the RC Church is the coverup and lack of accountability), so there’s no coverage. But I’d like to see stats, though I doubt they’re being counted. But there has been a problem with male teachers and girls, so there has to be a problem with hetorosexual pastors/priests. The temptation is the same.

I’m not arguing this to defend the Catholics, but to point out that this type of temptation isn’t restricted to the celibate priesthood.

For every one ordained philanderer or molester, there’re at least a few priests who do take the vow of celibacy seriously, and who’d never foul themselves (and the Church) in such a grotesque way. No doubt, the celibacy requirement drives some priests to sexual incontinence, but those priests tend to be the ones predisposed to sexual incontinence, anyway.

How might the Church distinguish between those who can and those who can’t handle the burden of celibacy? I don’t know. Nobody knows. Not even the priests themselves, in all likelihood.

I have to wonder, though, how many seminarians choose their vocation because they’re troubled in some way, they know they’re troubled, and they hope that the institution will reform them — when, in reality, they merely end up corrupting the institution.

I have heard from someone I believe that this may also stem from after Vatican 2, where they left priests leave who wanted to leave, and many of those priests who left may have been the ones with a watchful eye on the other priests.

Christopher Riley (View Comment):How might the Church distinguish between those who can and those who can’t handle the burden of celibacy? I don’t know. Nobody knows. Not even the priests themselves, in all likelihood.

Well the Imperial Chinese in the Forbidden City sort of figured this one out, didn’t they?

I have to wonder, though, how many seminarians choose their vocation because they’re troubled in some way, they know they’re troubled, and they hope that the institution will reform them — when, in reality, they merely end up corrupting the institution.

This would be interesting if you could study it in some way. Men who choose the priesthood when in fact they should be choosing a therapist.

Christopher Riley (View Comment):How might the Church distinguish between those who can and those who can’t handle the burden of celibacy? I don’t know. Nobody knows. Not even the priests themselves, in all likelihood.

Well the Imperial Chinese in the Forbidden City sort of figured this one out, didn’t they?

You know Quake, you may be on to something here. But maybe we don’t have to go that far. Are there no drugs available that suppress hormone production (and sexual desire)? You know, like creative endocrinology for Christ.

I would like to thank Stopa for the most innocently politically incorrect podcast in recent memory. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mike and found him as charming and good-humored in person as he is on the air. His speculation about the causes of homosexuality and his frank expressions of unease with people who have gone through so-called sexual reassignment surgery were entertaining — and resonate with my own thoughts and feelings on the matter.

An unintentionally bold and edgy podcast. I’ll see you both in the reeducation camps, I don’t doubt. Cheers!

I would like to thank Stopa for the most innocently politically incorrect podcast in recent memory. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mike and found him as charming and good-humored in person as he is on the air. His speculation about the causes of homosexuality and his frank expressions of unease with people who have gone through so-called sexual reassignment surgery were entertaining — and resonate with my own thoughts and feelings on the matter.

An unintentionally bold and edgy podcast. I’ll see you both in the reeducation camps, I don’t doubt. Cheers!

Isn’t it interesting that the ‘take no sides’ objective referees in the media are so giddily invested in fringe candidates, transgender , gay, socialist etc. I’d be curious to see their reaction to a transgender conservative.

By the way , I, too , expect to meet the rest of you in the re-education camps.

Hosts

Mike Stopa is a nanotechnologist. He has published nearly a hundred papers on the physics, chemistry and bio-chemistry of very small things. And his main focus has always been: how do we get those sma…[more]

Todd is a radio talk host and mobile radio entrepreneur with about 25 years in broadcasting. He had a ten year stint at WRKO in Boston where he hosted several different programs, the last of which wa…[more]